SAfrican Party Wants Probe of Mandela Ambulance Incident

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa's main opposition Democratic Alliance party on Sunday demanded a formal investigation into the breakdown of an ambulance carrying Nelson Mandela to hospital earlier this month.

"We have to be absolutely sure that the . . . military ambulance service poses no future risk to the health of former president Nelson Mandela," David Maynier, the shadow defense minister, said in a statement.

The military intensive care ambulance that rushed the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero to hospital in the early hours of June 8 developed engine trouble, resulting in a 40-minute delay until a replacement ambulance arrived.

The military health service has "let the country down," Maynier said, adding that he would write to Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula "requesting that a board of inquiry be convened to investigate the incident."

On Saturday, presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said doctors were "satisfied" that Mandela suffered no harm during the wait for a replacement ambulance to take him from his Johannesburg home to a specialist heart clinic in Pretoria about 30 miles away.